Giorgio AR

A friend of mine has two AR92 pairs, who have been in the cellar for about 5 years. A couple has non-original woofers, the second pair, the protagonist here, has woofers with crumbled foam and a dent on a midrange dome. We started with external cleaning, the cabinets then received a light coat of linseed oil. The 200033 original woofers with a round magnet (detected resistance of 3.5 and 3.6 ohms) were disassembled and taken to my house for refoaming, at the time I put in their place a pair of my 200040 woofers with square magnet, visible in the last photo (resistance detected of 6.4 and 6.4 ohms, aesthetically they are the most similar to the original, foam glued under the cone). I fixed the dent of the midrange, no changes were made to the crossover. Connected to a Technics SU-V7 amplifier they have shown a splendid sound, no imbalance between low frequency and the rest of the range: mid switches. and tw. on the back set to -6db both. A wonderful pair of AR92s. Back of 200033 original woofers Repaired dent of the midrange Front of 200033 original woofers The speakers just arrived from the cellar Speakers with woofers replaced Details of the dented midrange Replaced 200040 woofers

Hi ra.ra I confirm your impression on the AR16, I do not have any specimens of these speakers, but following the Italian market over the years I have seen on sale many specimens of AR16, currently if I'm not mistaken there are 2 pairs on the sales sites here in Italy . Apart from a few non-original woofers and tweeters, all the pieces I saw showed the same type of veneer on the cabinet as those of Steve, very rare the presence of the original foam grilles! Steve should take two pairs of well-sounding ARs and let us see the back of the AR16 woofer and tweeter when you refoaming woofers!! Giorgio

Hi Steve, your AR16s are amazing in the cabinets and grills, the speakers: the woofers just need refoaming and straightening a small fold in a paper cone (not a difficult job), the tweeters are the Peerless KO10DT, among the best players (if functioning just need aesthetic refreshing). It's worth restoring them to their original components and you'll have a wonderful pair of AR16 mintes! The AR18s are perfect in the components, the cabinets can be restored and then finished with veneer or painting, depending on your taste! You'll get more tips on restoring AR18s cabinets from other members ... Giorgio

I don't think the AR2a cloth is available, the hope is that someone here has surplus fabric, it seems to me that you had already asked for it. Alternatively the original AR2ax grilles are also fine and are often sold at various prices - 20 to 60/70 $ I saw on average sold on ebay, if you have patience you will find a pair of AR2ax grilles at an honest price. My pair of Heathkit AS-2a (clone of the AR2a) have grilles of the AR2ax, I am attaching photos of my AS-2a speaker with the AR2ax grille, as you can see the visual result is excellent and the frame sizes are the same for AR2a and AR2ax (also Heathkit in this case)

Hi Jeff, the '63 AR2s (I had written '62, but reviewing the photos and previous posts, I badly remembered the assembly year! I apologize for this) were originally unfinished, then veneered in wood unknown to me about 3 mm. thick, you can see them here and also in my other interventions: That time I hoped someone could understand the type of wood used, but so far this remains an unsolved enigma. Giorgio

P.S. The cloth of the AR2a of 1962 is without the gold thread, the other two cloths both have gold thread

Hi Jeff, the teak option, especially on European furniture, I don't like it, personally I am fascinated by American walnut or pine. To complete the description of the grille cloths, I enclose a photo: the first cloth is from AR2 around 1959, the second from AR2a from 1962, the third from AR2a, an unidentified year (it was on a 1964 Heathkit AS-2a, but not the his original grille!), in all the photos are in the order written above (except for the details of 2 nearby grilles). It seems that the fabric of the AR2 is the same from the AS-2a (Heathkit), probably classified "other finishes" for AR2 and also the certain AR2a of 1962 is the one classified "other finishes" for AR2a on your brochure. Giorgio

Jeff beautiful brochure, looking at it I have to ask if the fabric in the upper right corner of the 2nd photo is an original addition (with hand lettering!). The second question concerns the color Teak, here it appears dark, very similar to walnut, in all European-type cabinets) of AR2ax, AR4xa, AR5, AR6, AR7 and AR3a, teak is very clear, very similar to birch and veins are denser. I am attaching photos of one of my teak-coated AR6 pair (these went to the USA 2 years ago, sold because I keep the pair of early oiled valnut AR6)

Very beautiful these AR10PI, they seem completely original in all the components, the tweeters should be the A.22, you are very lucky to have the original foam grilles in perfect condition, only the surround foam of the woofers should not be the correct 5/8", but the 1/2" one. Giorgio

Thanks for the contribution, my curiosity was due to the fact that apart from the years of production and a few years later, AR no longer provided the replacement for AR2 and AR2a, except for the replacement with the 200008-0 3 "1/2 midrange or with the 200006-0 2 "1/2 mid / highrange. This pair of midrange sold in Indonesia and probably from S.S./ Seas Danish I think are perfectly unknown until now, we hope that Tom T. or other experts can reconstruct the history of these strange speakers! IARrybody beautiful speaker with 4 x 5 "mids, I am convinced that it sounds very good, apart from the extremes of the range, I too love this type of cone mids that are in my AR2, AR2a and Heathkit AS-2a (six total pairs) . I put a request to you and others, I have been searching for a couple of these mids with brown paper cones for years to match my 1963 AR2a that had two pairs of brown mids, unfortunately a couple had coils burned and the substitutes had the most common gray paper, currently each enclosure of this pair of AR2a contains a gray and a brown mid (the coils all have the same mating resistance). I have as a spare another enclosure with a pair of gray cones, but I don't want to use it to even out the color of the cone on the gray, I'm looking for a brown pair, maybe to exchange with my gray one! The mids are kept perfect in aesthetic and electrical function, I attach the photos of the two enclosures and the front of my AR2a. P.S. thank you Kent for beautiful brochure

I photographed the photos of the announcement, now you can see the mids, even if the resolution is not the best!

I found in my research this announcement from Indonesia of a pair of midranges AR manufactured in Denmark. Never seen a similar speaker, it looks a lot like the mid / tweeters of AR2 and AR2a and the production date printed on the back of the paper cone indicates 75/9. The AR logo is the belated one at the speaker production date, after 1975 for sure! It is the strangest speaker ever seen, although it could have been a replacement for the old AR speakers. It would be nice to understand who and what was produced. Below I attach the link of the announcement and the photos of the two midranges. https://www.olx.co.id/item/midrange-ar-55-denmark-iid-754992131 P.S. I saw that you can't open the images, they are visible in the ad, I hope someone can publish them here, I'm not able.

Exactly this, DonT thanks to the detailed photos, among my projects there is really a replica of AR-ST and I think that the scheme is the best help to be able to reconstruct this speaker. Sincerely, thank you for your kind reply !!

Here below also two postal envelopes sent by Acoustic Research, containing the first all the documentation of the AR2a speakers dated 1962 as per stamp (note the first series logo and the address of the establishment on the back envelope), the second one containing the brochure with info of AR LST, from 1974 and sent by Norwood!

All wonderful, but can you publish complete photos (if there are 2 pages, both) of AR-3st Wiring Instruction? You can see the complete wiring diagram (including coil, resistor and connections) that I and many fans need and you could use it for reconstruction of super tweeter units! Giorgio

Anything? No more suitable foam advice or experiences to report? I hope to find a valid help and if possible measurements of the internal attachment of the foam on the cone, measured and different from the values I detected with the 8" foam of v. AR,. Giorgio

Thanks Ra.Ra, read the topic and I opened a new discussion on the 8" woofer foam, as you will see there are several differences and the AR7 woofer is unique in its features, so I would really like to look for a foam that is closer to the big cone than this speaker, as you will see the diameter of the paper cone is larger than 5 mm compared to the 200001-1 woofer (155 mm vs 150 mm). This week I can't work on the AR7s, I sold my AR3a improved pair and I have to pack two very protective packages to ensure the safety of the speakers that are like new (with my pace and commitment I think I will work a week!) , after shipment of the AR3a imp. I will remove the AR7 fiberglass and I will check the capacitors by type and values. I am attaching the photo of the AR3a imp. removed with great difficulty from the "totem" where they were stacked and ready to be packed!

Even if the topic on the 8" foam is already covered, I have to ask for advice on finding a surround foam that is more in line with the original measurements. The problem in this case is double: the 200001-1 woofer with a cone with an external measurement of 150 mm. the woofer 538 (specific AR7) has an external cone size of 155 mm. The original internal connection of the foam measures 142 and 145 mm respectively. The foam I bought from Vintage AR (now more than a year ago and never used) has a 134 mm inner edge. therefore lower than the original diameter of the 200001-1 woofer (the other foam measurements: fine cone, metal frame attachment are OK, probably apart from the aesthetics that visually decreases the paper cone, this foam has a good overall replacement ), and much smaller than the diameter of the AR7 woofer (here also the beginning of the roll falls into the cone which has a larger diameter). I have 4 x 200001-1 woofers from refoaming and other 4 x AR7 woofers to replace the foam and I would not buy incorrect products (unfortunately buying from Italy there is a great cost of shipping and higher taxes and customs!). Furthermore, among the 8" woofers, the AR7 is different in design from all the others, if I'm not mistaken even spiders and coils should have unique characteristics, as well as the original foam had specific roll. I ask for competent help to find 2 + 2 pairs of foam that are closer and conform to the originals, mainly I think the biggest problem is the AR7 woofer replacement. Below are the photos of the two types of woofers, the measures (not perfect for optical deformation), but we catch the differences and finally the foam, placed eccentric but with the left edge where there was the original attachment to show how much foam interior is smaller. I thank all those who can help me in advance, especially in my search for the best replacement for the AR7 woofer. Giorgio

Hi Ra.Ra, I saw your AR7 pairs, splendid and very well restored in every detail, even aesthetic, you love these wonderful speakers! The inside of all four AR7s is yellow glass fiber, given my slowness both 4 speakers for now rest in a closet, I haven't looked inside yet and I can't say which capacitors they use (certainly the AR4xa I have of 36 74 use blue sprague and the values I measured were 10.9 mF, so they stayed in the cabinets and the speakers work perfectly). I take advantage of a question: the last pair of foam purchased over a year ago (and not used) by Vintage AR, had the internal lip on the cone of about 134 mm. too small, compared to 140 mm. or 145 mm. which I measured respectively on the original sizes of 200001-1 woofers and 538 AR7 woofers (these have the cone slightly larger than other 8 "woofers !!), I don't like this foam (all the other sizes purchased by Larry: 10 "and 12" are fine, 10 "ones are also perfect for mounting under the cone like in my AR48s woofers). From whom to buy in USA in you the most correct foam, keep in mind that I have to redo the foam of 8 speakers: 4 x AR7, 2 x AR6 and 4 x AR18, I found various sellers on ebay selling foam surround (Looneytunes however does not sell in Italy), someone with an inner diameter of 137 mm. and others of 140 mm. which I think would be good, if you have an opinion or advice, it would be welcome. I am not in a hurry and saw the purchase of several pieces (I also have to buy two pairs of 12 "foam) I wouldn't want to go wrong and throw away money for nothing (see the purchase from Larry, maybe the foam is good anyway, but aesthetically I would make the cone smaller than the view!). Giorgio

They came to my house! The foam surrounds have to be redone, all the speakers are OK. I removed a woofer from the new AR7 pair and this is dated 73/19 or maybe 18 (I will have certainty when I will also remove the 2nd woofer), with a progressive number of the label on the cabinet: 16639. In the photos there is also the stamp stamped on the woofer magnet of my first AR7 73/05 pair, with progressive number 1023 cabinet. It should also be noted that the first pair of AR7s No. 1022 and 1023 have the abbreviation EQ and are produced at Houghton Regis, England, the second pair No. 16638 and 16639 have the abbreviation HQ and are produced at Amersfoort, Holland. Below the photos In the middle the AR7 of the previous pair for comparison the date on the magnet of 1023 AR7 woofer the date on the magnet of 116639 AR7 woofer the date of the revision and refoam previous 00/05 England label Holland label

I bought my second AR7 pair (in total, now I have 17 pairs of Acoustic Research speakers!). The first 5 photos illustrate the first couple and the back of a woofer: n ° series 01622/01623, woofer dated 73/07 (see in the photos the non original labels - already purchased original pair - and the woofers with the surround glued underneath the paper cone - they are ready to receive new surrounds that will be correctly pasted over the cone). The next three photos illustrate the new pair just purchased (it has yet to arrive at my house) with serial number 16638/16639. Both pairs are veneered in wood, of different colors and have canvas frames: 1622/3 in wooden slats and 16638/9 in masonite. I am very happy with this new purchase!

Ra.Ra I corrected the title again with the correct diction of the 12 "TNG woofer: 1210003-2A, I realized today that there was still an error in the title !!! Ciao Giorgio.

I add the weight measurements of the two types of woofers: On the left in the photos the TNG woofer with a weight of 4.9 kg, on the right the AR 200003 woofer with a weight of 5,6 kg: a difference of 0.7kg, practically all to be attributed to an oversizing of the magnet of the original AR woofer! Giorgio

Wonderful answer AR surround, I really liked the advice not to eat the binding posts!!!! Good listening, Giorgio.

I agree with Kent on the original binding posts: they are made of quality metal made in the USA, probably those sold by part-express, very beautiful to look at, they have a lamination perhaps in gold on a support not so noble (it is not said that electrical contact is better as Tunedguy57 says on another site) and production should be Chinese! Stever your speakers are very beautiful and when they are in perfect order they will give you many years of pleasant listening, here you have already had many tips from collectors and experts of AR speakers! Good work and update your progress on the site Giorgio.